Improvement in harvesters



M. eHuBBARD.

'Mowing Machine.

Patented Feb. 9, 1858'.

FFICEQ M. e. HUBBARD, or PENN YAN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEM ENT IN HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 19.298, dated February 9, D658.

To all whom it may concern: hind the supporting-wheel, and therefore one Be it known that I, M. G. HUBBARD, of Penn Yan, Yates county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Im provements in blowing-Machines and I do hereby declare the following to be a clear and full description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 illustrates my improvements herein described; and the outline Fig. 2 'illustrates the arrangement of parts which I have heretofore used and the defects of which my new arrangement and combination of parts are intended to remove or obviate.

These improvements consist of a new arrangement of some of the details ot' my twowheeled mowing-machine, and are intended to improve its construction and operation.

1t seems necessary that a machine for cutting grass should be supportedon two large wheels,in order that the weight of the machine and driver may be moved easily, and so arranged as to equalize the draft and draw straight and true upon the team; and I have also found it necessary that the cutting apparatus should be independent of the machine to such a degree as to permit either end or both endsof the cutting apparatus to rise or fall and coniorm to the undulations ofthe ground. These objects are best accomplished by sustaining the frame on two large wheels and attaching the cutting apparatus to the frame by two heavy springs, substantially as described in the patent issued to me bearing date-the 27th day of January, 1857.

In arranging the practical details of this machine it has been necessary in almost every Y ieature to devise new elements'in order more fully to develop the great utility of its general plan, and further experience has directed my attention to a necessary change in the construction and location of the inner shoe and the attachment ofthe right-hand spring to the cutting apparatus, &c.

In my experiments with this machine thus far I have attached the inner shoe to the inner end ot' the ringer-bar, and then attached the rear end of the right-hand spring to this shoe and attached the front end ot' the said spring to the front of the main frame. By reference to the outline, Fig. 2, it will be seen that this arrangement brought one cutter directly becutter was wasted, and the inner end ot' the cutter-bar was also brought so much nearer to the crank, and therefore compelled me to make the pitman so much shorter, which was a material disadvantage.

My new arrangement consists in locating the said shoe (marked O in Fig. 1) directly behind the supporting-wheel P, so that it will run directly in the path ofthe said wheel, and therefore require but a slight inclination upward to pass over the grass or other obstacles which have been compressed into a solid path bythe said wheel in rolling over them. I extend the finger-bar suftlcientlybeyond this shoe to attach the rear end ofthe right-hand spring directly and firmly 'to the finger-bar. By this arrangement of the spring and location of the inner shoe I avoid wasting one cutter and tinger behind thesupporting-wheel, and also am enabled to make the pitman so inuch longer, which is very desirable. I also accomplish anotherimportant object in the perfect protection ofthe said spring from becoming weakened by wear,

and as so much depends upon this spring in holding the cutting apparatus in place, it is' highly necessary that it should be protected. In order to do this I make the shoe considerably thicker than the spring and place it close alongside of the spring, which keeps the spring up ofi' from the ground; and to protect it still more perfectly I attach a thick wearplate,w,under the spring, which evidently tends greatly to its preservation and adds to the durability of the parts, and as this wear-plate may be cast directly' on the side of the shoe, and thus both of them being cast and fitted up at once, it is cheaper than the cutter and finger, which were wasted in the previous arrangement.

In order to prevent loose spears of grass from falling and gathering in between the elevated front end of the shoe and the spring, I extend a lip from the'front end of the shoe down to and bend it entirely under the edge of the spring, giving the said lip an inclination forward, as seen at R, so that a spear of grass, in falling over onto the spring, may slide up and pass over and oft' from the spring or under the shoe. This entirely prevents any loose grass from accumulating between the shoe and spring, and enables me to locate them near each other, so as to ma-ke as little bearingsurt'ace on the ground as possible, and to give the front end ofthe shoe an upward curve for the purpose above -referred to.

As it is necessary to clear a track at the outer end ofthe cutting apparatus, so that in cutting the next swath theinner shoe (and the projecting end of the linger-bar to which the spring is attached) Will slide on the ground, in order to avoid raising the cutters too high by the shoe, etc., riding over ycut grass, it might at first thought be supposed that by extending the inger-bar out beyond the inner shoe for the attachment of the spring, as described, I would unnecessarily increase the bearing-surface at the inner end of the fingerbar, and therefore require an increased width of track to be cleared by the track-clearer, which would be objectionable but it will be observed that the supportingwheel could not be driven into the standing grass, and therefore,with either position of the inner shoe, a track would have to be cleared as wide as the spring and the tread of the wheel, because Vthe spring must be located at the side of the wheel.

Therefore my new arrangement of the spring and location ot' the shoe would require no wider track to be clcaredby the track-clearer than was necessary for the previous arrangement of the shoe and wheel, asshown inv Fig. 2. It is evident, however,

that the use of the supporting-wheel and the spring passing down by the side of it renders it necessary to clear a wider track than would he required in the use ot' the arrangement of the shoel and spring shown at Fig. 2, if that arrangement should be used without the supporting-wheel in front of the inner cutter, and

' for the same reason it is evident thatmy new combination of parts requires a track considl erably wider than is necessary in the use of `some other mowing-machines.

yas to cause it in many cases to operate imperfectly; but further 'experience developed a more perfect principle upon which to construct a track-clearer, for which I received a patent dated the 20th day of January, 1857. I found that by making this track-clearer in the form of a curve, instead of placing it at an angle, its operation was much more perfect, and that I could clear a much wider track thereby. This discovery overcame the obstacle above alluded to, and enables me to use the arrangement of the spring and shoe and the supportin g-wheel as described, and thereby attain all ot' the advantages above enumerated, and also overcomethe most serious objections to their use.

In order to keep the inner shoe more firmly in position in the track of the supportingwheel, I employ thev lateral brace T, extending from the frame to the finger-bar; but I find it desirable, in order to adjust the position ofthe said shoe with accuracy and at the same time avoid the necessity of too great perfection in the construction of the parts of the cuttingapparatus, to make the length of the said lateral brace adjustable. To accomplish this I make several holes in the end of the lateral brace, as seen at o c c yv, so that the pin co2 can be altered to either ot' them; or the end of the said brace may be formed into a head and the brace screwed therein, so as to alter its length thereby. This arrangement enables me,with out any great degree of accuracy in the construction of the parts, to readily adjust the position of the inner shoe so that it will run directly in the path ofthe supporting-wheel, and consequently require but a slight elevation of its front end to pass freely over cut grass or other obstacles which the supporting-wheel has previously compressed into a solid path by rolling over them, as above described.

Having thus fully described my improve- M. G. HUBBARD.

Witnesses E. E. LEWIS, H. HUBBARD. 

